Brown Bag Seminar Series

Institutions in development: the case of Poland

15th June 2016, 12:30pm, TW2 9.05, Floor 9, Tower 2, Clement’s Inn, London, WC2A 2AE
Speaker: Agnieszka Wysokinska, IGA Visiting Fellow.

There is growing evidence that history matters for economic development and that economic fortunes of societies were determined hundreds of years ago. The important question is what are the causes of persistence? There is growing evidence that institutions are the channel through which history operates. Which institutions and the exact mechanism through which they continue to affect development at present is less understood. Apart from institutions, culture has been hypothesised to play a role in economic development and given its slow moving nature would be another candidate for the channel. However, the evidence on the role of culture and the mechanism is scarce. 

To shed more light on role of institutions and culture in the economic development, I exploit the 1815-1914 division of Poland between three neighbouring empires: Prussia, Russia and Austria. The division set the three parts on different paths to industrialisation and differentiated development, institutions and culture. These differences persisted until present. The former Prussian partition is still much more prosperous than the Russian and the Austrian even if we narrow the area to 10km from the historic border. The municipalities on the Prussian side of the border collect 20% more revenues from taxes than the ones on the Russian side. Much of the evidence collected suggest the instrumental role of agrarian reforms, which granted the property rights to peasants in the 19th century but in each of the partitions in a different way. However, culture was also affected during partitions and could play a role. To check if culture is indeed a factor, I exploit the exogenous variation from the post-World War Two forced migration movements from the Russian to the Prussian partition. The results of this exercise suggest that culture does not differentiate the economic fortunes. 

Agnieszka Wysokinska is an Assistant Professor at University of Warsaw. She received her PhD from European University Institute. She is a Visiting Fellow at IGA LSE since March 2016.

Please confirm your attendance at your earliest convenience and no later than Wednesday, June 8th at iga@lse.ac.uk. Refreshments will be served. 

Blue Finance: Integrating the ocean into climate policy

7 June 2016, TW2 9.05, Floor 9, Tower 2, Clement’s Inn, London WC2A 2AE
Speaker: Torsten Thiele, IGA Visiting Fellow

The marine space makes up most of the planet and delivers crucial services but is critically affected by climate change and other stressors. As a result, its ability to absorb CO2 and deliver O2 is compromised, resulting in warming storms and sea level rise in particular coastal zones. Blue finance is about funding measures to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change on oceans. By delivering green coastal infrastructure that protects and supports ecosystem integrity this new approach can help coastal adaptation and climate mitigation. In addition, a global ocean data network can help to overcome gaps in climate modelling and marine governance. The Paris Agreement opens the door for scaling green finance; blue finance is a necessary complementing innovation to achieve scale and impact. The talk will cover the conceptual background, address practical issues and suggest specific institutional proposals.

Torsten initially presented the blue finance concept at the UNESCO World Ocean Day conference and the ocean-climate-platform at COP 21 in Paris. He combines a long experience in infrastructure finance with keen ocean advocacy. Torsten holds degrees in law and economics from Bonn University, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and an MPhil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge. In 2014 he was a Harvard 2014 Advanced Leadership Fellow and taught a seminar on Arctic Futures at Harvard Kennedy School. He is a  Visiting Fellow at LSE's Institute of Global Affairs since autumn 2015.

This seminar is co-hosted with the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

Please confirm your attendance at your earliest convenience and no later than Wednesday, June 1^st at iga@lse.ac.uk.

Sweden and the Refugee Crisis: Two Conflicting Solidarity Ideal and Rights Logics

3 February 2016, TW2 9.05, Floor 9, Tower 2, Clement’s Inn, London WC2A 2AE
Speaker: Lars Tragardh, IGA Visiting Fellow

The great refugee crisis of the fall of 2015 have exposed a fundamental conflict in Sweden between two potent solidarity ideals. One grounded in citizenship and the national welfare state; the other in human rights and a commitment to internationalism. These solidarity ideals are in turn connected to conflicting rights logics: one social rights in T.H. Marshalls sense, rooted in a social contract based on reciprocity, conditions and limits (citizens who work, say taxes and earn social rights); the other human rights, which are limitless, unconditional and borderless (intrinsic rights, not conditional or tied to work and taxation).

Lars has written extensively on migration and democracy and minority rights in recent years. An excellent speaker, he is one of the most visible public intellectuals in Sweden. His book “Is the Swede Human? (with Henrik Berggren) is one of the most influential books in Sweden in recent years. Lars received his Ph.D. in history from UC Berkeley in 1993, and later taught European history at Barnard College, Columbia University for ten years, and was affiliated with the Institute for the Study of Europe at Columbia University. He has spent most of last year in Oxford and will be visiting LSE during lent and summer terms.

We realise that this is short notice, but we wanted to take advantage of the fact that Lars will be in London on February 3.